Today, the Huffington Post posted an online article titled “Are These 10 Trendy Foods Worth the Hype?” Magazines, newspapers, and online media love to stir controversy around new dietary trends to make you click, and dig into their latest opinion. However, this article hits home with quick and simple reasons to include popular foods.

Registered dietician Keri Gans starts by highlighting that acai berries (pronounced ah-sah-YEE) are indeed loaded with antioxidants, which are important for athletes, active people and anyone trying to improve their health. I like the fact that she points out that other berries - blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries – are also rich in antioxidants. My advice… skip the expensive acai berries and go local with farm fresh berries. Add to your Paleo breakfast or smoothie in the morning, or have them as a great snack option throughout the day.

Next up wheatgrass and spirulina, two great ‘green’ options to add to your shake or grab from you local juice bar. Beware… many shakes at the juicebar are loaded with simple sugars, so often your best bet is to go with a shot of wheatgrass to ramp up your nutrient intake- vitamin C, E, A, calcium, iron, and magnesium. If you don’t eat a lot of veggies, then adding spirulina or wheatgrass powders to shakes or water is a great option. Alternatively, just eat more greens – chards, kales, lettuces – to get similar benefits.

Keri’s take on quinoa, flax seeds, chia seeds, and tempeh are right on the mark. However, personally I am not a fan of gluten-based foods like wheat germ, seitan, and nutritional yeast. If you need to get more fiber in your diet, swap out the wheat germ and simply add more veggies and fruit in your diet. If you are vegan/vegetarian, seitan is a common choices, however I prefer my clients to prioritize tempeh for its high protein and digestive support (the gluten in seitan can wreak havoc on the gut).

All in all, there is lots of great info in this post so take 5-minutes and start incorporating more into your diet today.

Dr. Marc Bubbs

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Dr. Marc Bubbs ND, MS(c), CISSN, CSCS is a Naturopathic Doctor, Speaker, Director of Nutrition for the Canadian Men's National Basketball Team and former Strength Coach. Dr. Bubbs is the author of The Paleo Project: The 21st Century Guide to Looking Leaner, Getting Stronger, and Living Longerand a regular contributor to Re-Find Health, Breaking Muscle,PaleoDiet.com anda nutrition advisory board member forStrong Magazine. Dr. Bubbs regularly presents at health, fitness and medical conferences across Canada, USA, UK and Europe and has consulted with professional sports teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB.